Caravans

The film's scenario would never happen except in a novel, or a soap opera where the central character has to "find herself".

An USA Intelligence operative goes into the Persian desert to find a missing diplomat's daughter. His journey involves gun-running Arab nomads, flash floods and lots of camels.

Nevertheless Caravans is good escapist fun. I could watch this film again and again, as it is great cinema. Two good bonuses are the scenery and the soundtrack. Mike Batt (a fellow Brit) composed the stirring music and it is worth buying the soundtrack CD alone (you may recall the minor pop chart hit-single by Babara Dickson, called Caravans).

This is a rare look into the Islamic world just before the Iranian revolution, that virtually cut-off all communication with Western cultures. International intrigue, and the complexities of "cold-war" politics are just below the horizon in this all too "Ugly American" tale of the last caravan.

The tribal scenes are unequaled in their energy and authenticity. The inclusion of local clans and their customs bring forth a realism unique to modern films. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of the screen play, which is shallow and reflects western values at their worst. Acting is staged at best. No attempt at character development, much less motivation.

Spectacular filming of Iranian ruins. Biblical visions, for those with open minds,are stunning. We can only hope for a deeper glimpse.

So, OK, Citizen Kane this isn't. I re-read the original Michener book a few years ago and went looking for the movie. Only the largest video store in town had it, and you had to ask, because it was waaaay in the back stacks.

They simplified and Hollywood-ized the book's plot and removed much of Michener's trademark exposition on the good things, bad things, history and cultural foibles of Afghanistan. For that matter, they scrubbed out the word "Afghanistan" and made it a generic "country in the mid-East".

But it does have a lot of wonderful photography of Iran and a genuine bedouin people, who provided the extras for Anthony Quinn's "tribe". Iran had its revolution and became mostly closed to the West just a year after shooting, and it is almost heartbreaking to see all the magnificent countryside and archaeological sites that provide the backdrop, along with the knowledge that it is still so difficult, dangerous, and expensive to visit.

This certainly isn't a great film, but it is entertaining, and even more so since it takes place in Iran. Most, if not all movies that take place in the Middle Eastern are set in Arabic countries. So much so that even in this day in age most people in the West associate the Mid-East solely with the Arabs.

But this movie is unique in that it not only takes place in Iran, a non-Arab country, but it was also filmed there as well, right before the Revolution, which technically began in '78 but was firmly established the year later.

The turmoil of the Revolution took place in the major urban centers, which this movie was filmed far away from, in the desert areas of the province of Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan. The Baluch are an Iranian people, related to the Persians, Kurds, Azari's, etc. with their own distinct culture and heritage.

What really makes this film interesting is that they portray the Baluch and their dress and customs fairly accurately. It's obvious the filmmakers did their homework and actually put some effort in learning about the various Iranian ethnic groups and the differences between them. For example, the Baluch have had plenty of conflicts with the central government for quite some time, and this fact is made good use of in the movie. Even today the Baluch create problems for the central government every now and then, what with all the smuggling going on, which is their primary trade.

All in all, if you're looking for something unique, give this movie a shot. Don't expect too much in the way of story or acting, but you're sure to find the scenery and the exposure to a different culture interesting.

As a sidenote, it's interesting (but not surprising given Western ignorance) the two other reviewers were under the vastly mistaken impression that the movie was concerned with an Arabic or "bedouin" tribe, since there are no such tribes in Iran and also despite the fact that the film quite emphatically makes it clear that the tribe is Baluchi. You'd think people would realize that Iran is not an Arab country by now.

I actually watched this movie being filmed while living in Isfahan, Iran in the last 1970s. My father worked for an American company, and I was in high school---there were actually 10,000 Americans living in Isfahan, (including families with children) before the revolution got underway and the evacuations of non-essential personnel started.

I haven't seen the movie since the time it first came out, but I do remember that (a) the score was quite good (b) although the plot of the original Michener novel dealt with Afghanistan, and although the adaptation may have put the "location" of the action near the Pakistani border, the filming of exterior sequences took place within an hour's drive of Isfahan, VERY far from the Pakistani border.